1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing leaking carbon dioxide. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for processing leaking carbon dioxide, wherein carbon dioxide, which may leak from a transfer line for transferring carbon dioxide for storage in the sea or under the ground, particularly, from the connection part of the transfer line, is collected and processed to prevent the diffusion of leaking carbon dioxide, and to a method for processing leaking carbon dioxide using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Global warming, currently becoming serious, causes abnormal weather as well as disturbs ecosystems. Therefore, global warming has attracted common attention all over the world, and efforts to reduce or solve global warming have been made in various fields.
The greenhouse effect attributable to carbon dioxide is pointed out as a cause of accelerating global warming, and carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is a technology for capturing and storing a large amount of carbon dioxide, is receiving considerable attention as an effort to reduce the discharge of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Here, CCS was proposed in order to cope with the changes in climate and the demand for the reduction of greenhouse gas according to the Kyoto Protocol, and is referred to as a technology including the processes of: capturing a large amount of carbon dioxide generated from a large scale installations such as a thermoelectric power plant, a steel plant, a cement factory or the like; compressing the captured carbon dioxide to make liquefied or supercritical carbon dioxide; transferring the liquefied or supercritical carbon dioxide to a waste ocean oil field, a waste ocean gas field, a waste coal field, a deep saline aquifer or the like by a pipe line or a ship or the like to semi-permanently store and control this carbon dioxide.
For example, the storage of carbon dioxide is conducted by injecting carbon dioxide into a porous rock layer (sandstone bed or the like) located at a distance of 800 m or less from the bottom of a sea to fill the pores thereof (gaps between sediment particles: 10˜30 vol %) with the carbon dioxide.
Recently, an undersea carbon dioxide reservoir capable of permanently isolating and storing five billion tons of carbon dioxide was discovered in the continental shelf of the southwestern sea area of the Uleung Basin in Korea. Accordingly, it is predicted that an undersea carbon dioxide reservoir for storing one million tons of carbon oxide will be commercially developed.
According to the CCS, carbon dioxide is transferred from a carbon dioxide generation facility to a carbon dioxide reservoir through transfer lines serially connected from the facility to the reservoir, and is then stored in the reservoir.
However, since the transfer lines are serially connected and installed pipe lines, there is a problem that carbon dioxide may leak from the connection parts of pipes.
Here, examining the influence of carbon dioxide on the human body, it is known that, upon exposure to carbon dioxide, a person feels unpleasant, his or her pulse rate and respiration rate increase, and a symptom such as dizziness or headache occurs when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is 1000˜2000 ppm (0.1˜0.2%). Further, it is known that a person may die due to the difficulty in breathing when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is 10% or more.
Therefore, when carbon oxide leaks from transfer lines in large amounts, there is a problem that the humans may be injured and ecosystems may be damaged. Particularly, when carbon dioxide leaks around a densely populated area, there is a problem that the humans may be injured, and social disorder may occur.